Loom



Feb. 11, 1969 PFARRWALLER 3,426,807

LOOM

Filed May 26, 1967 Sheet Erwin Pforrwoller ATTORNEYS E. PFARRWALLER 3,426,807,

LOOM

Feb. 11,1969

Filed May 26, 1967 Inventor:

Erwin Pfcrrwuller BY I MJ LvMAGL...

ATTORNEYS Feb. 11, 1969 E. PFARRWAL LER 3,426,807

LOOM

Filed May 26, 1967 Sheet 5 of 5 Erwin Pfarrwoller BY a ATTORNEYS United States Patent 7,790/66 US. Cl. 139--122 Int. Cl. D03d 47/48; D03j 1/22 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is disclosed, in a loom of the gripper shuttle type including tuck-in needles for tucking into the edge warps of the shed the cut-off ends of the weft so as to form selvages, a mechanism for moving the needles between a rearward, lowered position wherein they penetrate the shed to perform their tuck-in function substantially in the weaving plane and a raised, forward position where they are out of the way of the reed and are also high enough to clear a temple extending across the entire width of the fabric. There is also disclosed such a temple, comprising a bar extending crosswise of the loom, a cover plate defining with the bar a slot also extending crosswise of the loom, and a rod disposed in that slot and around the major portion of whose periphery the cloth is led, to be gripped between the rod and the mouth of the slot when the cloth is tightened and to be released when the cloth is slackened, as at beat-up by the reed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention pertains to a loom having a selvage-forming motion including a tuck-in needle for tucking in the ends of the weft threads so as to form a selvage and having a temple for the cloth disposed downstream, in the direction of cloth motion, from the point at which the reed beats up the weft onto the fell of the cloth.

Description of the prior art In one known form of loom of this type, the selvage needles are disposed beneath the cloth and beneath the shed formed by the warps and penetrate into the shed from below, passing through the warps in the lower half of the shed in order to seize and tuck into the shed the ends of the weft thread last inserted. Thereupon the tuckin needles are withdrawn from the shel and are shifted toward the front end of the loom, i.e. toward the cloth beam, so as to be out of the way of the reed at the next stroke of the latter. With such a construction of the selvage motion, and in particular with such a disposition of the selvage needles, it is difiicffiult and even impossible to provide a temple for maintenance of the cloth width which shall extend over the whole width of the cloth, precisely because the tuck-in selvage needles are in the way. It has therefore been customary heretofore to employ in looms of this type temples extending only over the edge portions of the cloth. The central portion of the cloth has remained without guidance.

Summaly 0f the invention It is an object of the invention so to construct the selvage needles and the drive therefor that there may be included in the loom a temple extending across the entire width of the cloth. In accordance with the invention, the selvage needles possess, in addition to the movement thereof substantially parallel to the weaving plane 3,426,807 Patented Feb. 11, 1969 for performance of their tuck-in function, a substantially vertical movement perpendicular to the weaving plane, this latter movement being for the purpose of lifting the selvage needles, during heating up, above a portion of the temple which extends above the weaving plane, and/or for the purpose of causing the selvage needles, supported above the shed, to penetrate the shed from above for performance of their tuck-in function. With this construction the space beneath the selvage needles and beneath the linkage which carries them is free to be occupied by other elements of the loom, in particular by a temple extending across the entire width of the cloth.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention the temple, which is disposed beneath the selvage needles and their supporting arms, includes a longitudinal bar extending crosswise of the loom and having a groove or slot therein, likewise extending across the loom. A rod lies loosely in this groove. The mouth of this elongated slot is narrower than the diameter of the rod. The cloth passes into this slot and around the major fraction of the periphery of the rod and emerges from the slot again to pass on toward the cloth beam. The rod and the slotbearing member in which it is supported thus constitute a temple to hold and guide the cloth across its entire width, protecting the cloth against uneven compression and uneven fell shift across the width of the cloth, and holding the weft at right angles to the length of the cloth.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the edge of the transverse bar of the temple at which is disposed the mouth of the longitudinal slot is positioned to be higher than the rear edge of that bar so that the temple can be positioned in a relatively high position so as to provide adequate space for rocking of the shuttle guide out of the way of the reed during heating up.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the vertical drive for the selvage needles comprises a stationary member having a cam groove therein which extends substantially parallel to the direction of picking. An arm carrying the selvage needle and executing horizontal movement is engaged in this slot and is thereby forced to execute up and down movement as well, carrying the selvage needle therewith. The vertical movement of the selvage needle is thus produced in an advantageous and simple manner and can, moreover, be incorporated into looms originally built without it.

It is advantageous to employ for each selvage needle a U-shaped member extending around the edge of the cloth in order to couple together coaxially a vertical stub shaft disposed beneath the path of the cloth, which imposes horizontal motion on the selvage needle, and a vertical stub shaft which is disposed above the weaving plane and which is coupled with the selvage needle. In this way, it is possible to employ the drive shaft beneath the weaving plane in looms of the prior art to effect the motion in accordance with the invention of selvage needles disposed above that plane. Thus, looms of the prior art can be modified to incorporate the present invention by the addition thereto of a small number of suitable parts so as to enjoy the advantages thereof.

Brief description of the drawing The invention will now be further described in terms of a non-limitative exemplary embodiment thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a loom according to the invention, seen from the cloth end;

FIGS. 2, 2a are partial vertical sectional views (at two different position of the parts) at an enlarged scale through the loom of FIG. 1, the section being taken parallel to the length of the warps;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the elements of the loom seen in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken in the same plane as that of FIG. 2, and showing the temple of the loom of FIGS. 1 and 2 in cross-section, but at a larger scale than in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view in elevation of one of the elements of the loom of FIG. 2, seen in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a view in elevation of the member 59 of FIG. 2, seen from the left; and

FIG. 7 is a view of the clamping bar 32 in the temple of the invention, seen in cross-section in FIGS. 2 and 4.

Description of the preferred embodiment The gripper shuttle loom shown in FIG. 1 comprises two side frames 1 and 2, a cloth beam 3 for the cloth 33, a main drive shaft 5, a warp beam 21, a reed 8, heddle frames 9, and a shuttle guide 14 for the shuttle 12. The loom is operated by a drive motor 7 through a driving wheel 6 incorporating a clutch and brake. The shuttles, of which only one is shown at 12 in FIG. I, carry the weft 10 through the shed from a stationary supply bobbin 11 outside the shed. Each shuttle is shot out of a picker 13 and brought to a stop in a catcher 15. Between the bobbin 11 and the picker 13 there is a thread feed device 22 containing a thread brake, a thread tensioning device and various eyes through which the weft thread passes. Between the picker 13 and one edge of the cloth and between the catcher and the other edge of the cloth there are disposed selvage tuck-in mechanisms 23. Each of these mechanisms comprises essentially a tuck-in needle as further described below, a selvage thread clamp, and a thread centering device. The mechanism 23 associated with the picker 13 also includes shears for severing the picked weft 10. The selvage tuck-in mechanisms are also associated with a temple (described below) which together with the mechanisms 23 constitutes a selvage-forming motion which produces selvages at the edges of the cloth by tucking in the ends of the picked wefts 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the temple, generally indicated at 50, comprises a main transverse bar or member 27 which is attached by screws 25 to supports 24 secured to the loom frame. The bar 27 carries a cover plate 28 which, with the bar 27, defines a groove or slot 26 (FIG. 4) narrower at the mouth a thereof than inside, and extending like the bar 27 and its cover plate 28 across the entire Width of the cloth. The cover plate 28 is attached to the main member 27 by screws 29 which pass through slots 31 in the cover plate. When these screws 29 are loosened, the plate 28 can therefore be shifted downward and to the right as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4 (cf. the position 28a shown by chain lines in FIG. 4).

The groove 26 houses a gripper rod 32 around the major portion of whose periphery the cloth 33 passes. The free edge 34 of the cover plate 28 is, in the FIG. 2 position, higher than the free edge 35 of the bar 27. Between the free edges 34 and 35 there is defined a cloth entry and exit slot whose width :2 (FIG. 4) is slightly smaller than the diameter d of the gripper rod 32. The dimension a is hence that of the mouth of the slot 26. At positions 36 and 37 a gripping action therefore can occur, when the cloth is stretched lengthwise of the warps, be tween the bar 27 and the cover plate 28, clamping the cloth during forward movement thereof indicated by arrows 38. During the beating-up movement of the reed, the cloth slackens slightly at 37 so that the gripper rod 32 and the portion of the cloth wrapped around it drop slightly into the slot 26. The cloth is thus permitted to advance through the temple so as to be taken upon the cloth beam. The clamping action at 36 and 37 thus ceases temporarily but is restored as soon as the cloth is pulled towards the cloth end, i.e. towards the cloth beam 3, as indicated by the arrows 38. That is, the rod 32 immediately returns to the clamping position in which it pinches the cloth against the bar 27 at 37 and against the plate 28 (fixed with reference to the bar 27) at 36.

When the reed reaches the beat-up position of FIG. 2, the clamping action of the rod 32 ceases. Hence as shown in FIG. 2, the rod and the portion of cloth wrapped around it have dropped slightly into the slot 26. The amount by which for best results the diameter d of the rod should exceed the breadth of the mouth a will depend on the thickness and roughness of the cloth 33 and can be determined by experiment. The difference must be such as to insure that the rod 32 and the cloth wrapped around it will drop some distance into the slot 26 when the cloth goes slack at the beat-up position of the reed shown in FIG. 2 and do not remain suspended in the slot between the points 34, 35 because of jamming of the rod 32.

The reed 8 is mounted on a sley 41 (FIG. 2) to which screws 42 secure shuttle guide teeth 43 forming the shuttle guide 14 (FIG. 1). The parts 8, 41 and 43 are swung backwards and forwards during operation of the loom as indicated by arrow 44 in FIG. 2 so that the reed 8, through which the warp threads 46 and 47 forming the shed 45 pass, moves between the beat-up position shown in FIG. 2 and an inoperative position to the left of the position shown therefor in FIG. 2. When the reed is in the inoperative position a new weft thread 10 is picked through the shed, and the reed 8 thereafter returns to the beat-up position shown by dash lines in FIG. 2. After beating up it once again returns to the left, and so on.

A stub shaft 52 (FIG. 5) is rotatably mounted about a vertical axis in the catcher 15. Its upper end carries a U-shaped connecting member or crank 53 which passes around the edge of the cloth 33 as seen in FIG. 5 and which continues as a stub shaft 54 above the cloth. A support arm 55 for a selvage tuck-in needle 56 is attached to the upper stub shaft 54, as seen in FIG. 3. In particular, the arm 55 is coupled at a horizontal pivot pin 66 to a yoke 54' which is tightened about the shaft 54 so as to move with that shaft.

The shaft 52 is subjected, by driving mechanism not shown and which may be coupled to the main loom drive, to oscillatory arcuate movement as indicated by the arrow 68 in FIG. 3 and simultaneously to reciprocating translational movement, as indicated by the arrow 68a in FIG. 2. In consequence the hook 57 at the end of the selvage needle 56 on arm 55 is moved cyclically through a path whose projection on a horizontal plane is indicated at 57-57a-57b-57c-57d57e-57f-57g-57h and back to 57 in FIG. 3.

The catcher 15 also carries a guide member 59 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 6). This guide member, which may be of plastic material, has formed therein a guide slot 61 in which the support arm 55 is guided. The guide member 59 and its slot 61 are shown in elevation in FIG. 6, from which it will be seen that the slot imposes on the arm an up and down motion, i.e. a pivoting about pin 66, as the arm rotates with shaft 54.

After picking of a weft 10 through the shed and after beating up thereof by the reed 8, i.e. while the reed is in its rear, inoperative position (at the left in FIG. 2), the hook 57 of needle 56 passes from its initial position, which is shown in solid lines in FIG. 3 and in which the support arm 55 is in the higher portion 610 (FIG. 6) of the slot 61, (see also FIG. 2a) to the point 57a. The curved portion 61a of the slot 61 (FIG. 6) now becomes effective so that the hook 57, continuing to move clockwise in FIG. 3, is lowered until it comes level with the weaving plane 60 (FIG. 2), arm 55 being new in the portion 61b of slot 61. Here, in portion 57b of the needle path (FIG. 3), the needle 56 meets the Warp threads 47 in the upper shed position. Then, in portion 570 of its path, by virtue of the movement to the left in FIG. 3 imposed on shaft 54 which is indicated at 68a in FIG. 2, the needle 56 moves slightly toward the rear of the loom, i.e. toward the warp beam 21 and hence leftward in FIG.

3, so that the needle pushes those warp threads downwardly, below it. With continuing rotation of shaft 54, the needle then enters the edge portion of the shed in the portion 57d of its travel and, with translation of shaft 54 to the right, the needle moves along portion 57e of its path to its furthest point 57) where it has emerged from the shed. In portion 57:; the end a of the weft last picked passes over the hook 57 and is gripped by it, the tuck-in needle being approximately in the position 56a shown by dash lines in FIG. 3.

When the hook 57 at the end of the needle 56 reaches the point 57f, arm 55 reverses its rotation and starts to rotate counterclockwise as seen in FIG. 3. In portion 57g of the needle path the needle and with it the weft end 10a are thus pulled back into that portion of the shed defined by the edge warps, those in lower shed position being shown at 46 in FIG. 3. The end 10a is thereby tucked into the selvage 33a, the support arm 55 being then still in the lower portion 61b of the slot 61 of FIG. 6. During subsequent movement the arm 55 enters the curved portion 61a of the slot, the needle being in portion 57h of its path, and the arm then returns to the upper slot portion 61c, the needle being at 57a.

When the arm is in the upper slot portion 61c, the needle 56 is high enough so that it can move to the right in FIG. 2 above the upper end 34 of the cover plate 28. Thus, FIG. 2 shows the arm 55 at the angular position about pin 66 which the arm occupies when it engages the lower portion 61b of slot 61 in FIG. 6, FIG. 2 moreover showing the arm and tuck-in needle substantially in the positions occupied by those elements in the dash-line position thereof in FIG. 3. It will be seen that in FIG. 2 the needle 56 is substantially in the weaving plane 60, and is below the upper limit 34 of the temple 50 comprising elements 27, 28 and 32. When in contrast the arm 55 is retracted, by rotation and translation, to the position shown therefor in full lines in FIG. 3, the arm is lifted by slot 61 sufficiently to raise the needle higher than the lip 35 of the temple bar 27, and preferably above the cover plate 28 thereof also. By virtue of this lifting, the needle can be swung to the position shown therefor in full lines in FIG. 3, where it has been moved forwardly beyond the fell of the fabric at 63, so as to be out of the way of the reed 8.

The lower portion 61b of the slot 61 for the needle support arm 55 has a width c smaller than the width 0' of its higher portion 610, since the arm 55, moving from portion 61b to portion 61c, pivots upwards slightly on pin 66 and is therefore slightly inclined to the horizontal when in portion 61c. To facilitate guiding and sliding the arm is bevelled as indicated at 55a and 55b in FIG. 6.

Since the free edge 34 of the cover plate 28 is higher than the end 35 of the main member 27, the temple 50 made up of elements 27, 28 and 32 can be placed at a relatively small angle A (FIG. 2) not exceeding about 30 to the horizontal, to leave space 50 below the temple for the guide 14, to pivot as indicated by the arrow 44 in FIG. 2. The radius of the pivoting are covered by the needle 56 during the horizontal motion indicated by the arrow 68, i.e. the eflfective length of arm 55, can be adjusted at a pin and slot junction 71 in the arm. The arrangement of the needle 56 above the shed 45 and the temple 50 has the advantage that the needle is easy to examine and, if its setting requires revision, to adjust.

As shown in FIG. 7, the gripper rod 32 consists of a smooth central portion 32a and two knurled end portions 32b and 320. These portions, if separate, can be pushed or screwed into each other. The rod can be adapted for smaller or larger weaving widths 14a (FIG. 1) by using the end parts 32b and 32c with a shorter or longer central part 32a. The rod 32 is prevented from shifting axially by means of thrust plates 72 attached at its ends to the catcher (see FIG. 3).

The picker 13 supports a selvage-forming motion hav- 6 ing components corresponding to those at the catcher side shown in FIGS. 2 to 6.

In another embodiment of the invention, the gripper temple 50 is used with a loom producing two parallel lengths of cloth simultaneously. In this case a dividingselvage tuck-in mechanism between the two lengths of cloth severs the picked wefts in the center of the weaving width, and tuck-in needles of this mechanism similar to the needle 56 tuck the two free weft ends into the shed. This construction may have a continuous gripper temple extending across both lengths of cloth, but the rod 32 should be knurled or grooved on both sides of the dividing-selvage tuck-in mechanism in those portions adjacent the two central selvages. Alternatively, the gripper temple in a loom weaving two lengths of cloth simultaneously may be interrupted at a dividing-selvage tuck-in mechanism.

In still another embodiment, the gripper temple 50 is inclined so that the width of plate 28 slopes upwardly and forwardly of the loom from its rear edge 34, instead of downwardly and forwardly as in FIG. 2, the gripper rod 32 being approximately in the same position as in FIG. 2. In this case the cloth 33 passing through the temple is wrapped around the rod 32 in the opposite direction from FIG. 2. The cloth therefore enters the temple by the edge 34 of the cover plate and leaves it by the edge 35. The length of fabric running to the right of the temple then passes below the temple. In this construction the temple may for example be attached to the housings of the picker 13 and catcher 15. The vertical movement in the path 57ah of the tuck-in needle 56 must then be increased accordingly.

The vertical movement of the needle 56 may be produced by other means than the curved slot 61, e.g. by periodically raising and lowering the rotary parts 52, 53, 54 in FIGS. 2, 5. Alternatively, the vertical movement of the needle 56 may be caused to occur not in the part of the path of movement 57ah described but in another suitable part of the path of movement, e.g. in portion 57c.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a loom comprising shedding means (heddle frames 9) which define a weaving plane 60 (FIG. 2), a reed 8, a temple 50 disposed beyond the beat-up position of the reed in the direction of cloth travel through the loom, a selvage needle 56, and means to move the needle substantially parallel to the weaving plane for tuck-in of severed weft threads and means to move the needle transversely of the weaving plane. In the embodiment illustrated, the means to move the needle substantially parallel to the weaving plane comprise a shaft 52 which is subjected to rotation about an axis transverse of the weaving plane and to translation substantially parallel to the weaving plane, the needle being coupled to that shaft by means of the arm 55, the yoke 54', the shaft 54 and the U-shaped member 53. In the embodiment illustrated, moreover, the shaft 52 is disposed vertically beneath the cloth adjacent an edge thereof and beyond the fell of the cloth in the direction of cloth travel.

The means to move the needle transversely of the weaving plane comprise, in the embodiment illustrated, the stationary plate 59 having a slot 61 therein farther from the weaving plane at the portion 610 thereof than at the portion 61b thereof. The arm 55 to which the needle 56 is afiixed passes through this slot 61 so that motion of the arm lengthwise of the slot, such as occurs with rotation of the shafts 52 and 54, shifts the needle toward and away from the weaving plane. The temple of the loom illustrated comprises the elements 27 and 28 which together constitute functionally a bar slotted at 26 which extends crosswise of the loom, and the rod 32 disposed in the slot of that bar, the rod having a diameter greater than the mouth of that slot. The plate 28 is adjustably fixable on the member 27 of the temple and in particularly by loosening of the plate, the slot 26 can be opened so as to permit insertion of a bight of the cloth and of the rod 32 into that slot, whereupon the plate 28 is fixed with respect to the member 27 as by tightening of the bolts 29 so as to give to the slot 26 the shape hereinabove mentioned, wherein the mouth thereof is narrower than the portion of the slot occupied by the rod 32. The temple 50 is so disposed as to give clearance to a shuttle race 43 which is movable as indicated by the arrow 44 in FIG. 2 between an operative position inside the shed and an inoperative position outside the shed. The shuttle race is shown in dash lines in FIG. 2 in this inoperative position outside the shed where the temple 50 is seen to lie beneath the cloth but at least in part above the inoperative position of the shuttle race.

While the invention has been described herein in terms of a presently preferred embodiment thereof, the invention itself is not limited thereto but rather comprehends all modification on and departures from that embodiment properly falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A loom comprising means defining a Weaving plane, a reed movable between a retracted position and a beat-up position, a temple disposed beyond the beat-up position of the reed in the direction of cloth travel through the loom, a selvage needle, means to impose on the needle a first oscillatory movement substantially parallel to the weaving plane, and means to impose on the neddle a second oscillatory movement transversely of the weaving plane.

2. A loom according to claim 1 wherein said means to impose on the needle a first oscillatory movement include an arm supporting the needle and wherein said means to impose on the needle a second oscillatory movement include a stationary plate having a slot farther from the weaving plane at one portion thereof than at another portion thereof, said arm extending through said slot.

3. A loom according to claim 2 wherein said means to impose on the needle a first oscillatory movement further include a shaft subjected to rotation about an axis transverse of the weaving plane and to translation substantially parallel to the weaving plane, and means coupling said arm to said shaft.

4. A loom according to claim 3 wherein said shaft is disposed vertically beneath the cloth adjacent the edge thereof and beyond the fell thereof in the direction of cloth travel, and wherein said coupling means comprise a U-shaped member extending around the edge of the cloth from a location beneath the cloth to a location above the cloth.

5. A loom according to claim 4 wherein said needle is disposed above the weaving plane and penetrates the shed from above at one phase of the motion of said shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,185,308 1/1940 Pfarrwaller 139-126 2,374,951 5/ 1945 Pedrazzo et al. 3,111,966 11/1963 Demuth.

FOREIGN PATENTS 944,231 1/ 1960 Great Britain.

HENRY S. JAUDON, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 139-294 

